Italy: Florence

At ten euro round trip on a bus, Florence was a quick day trip away from Pisa, and I ended up loving it more than I thought I would (again, despite the massive amounts of tourists everywhere.) I ate gelato for breakfast, gelato for lunch, and was about to have gelato for dinner before I realised the place also sold cannoli. Additionally, I tried Italian Nutella–but I think German Nutella is still the best.

I walked through the market and was amused by the parallels I found to Fes–there was a lot of leather and a lot of pushy shopkeepers. The Mercato Centrale felt just like the Budapest main market hall with lots of fresh produce and some baked goodies.

I was disappointed, however, that the rose market that supposedly happens every Thursday morning in the Piazza della Repubblica was not be found. Also to my disappointment, both the Giardino di Boboli and the Giardino di Bardini charged admission fees. However, the Giardino della Rose was one of my favourite places with a little Japanese zen garden in addition to many gorgeous colours of roses and interesting statues of cool men and made up for both of these by far.

I got lost by following the large wall that I saw from the Piazzale Michelangelo and came upon the Abbazia di San Miniato al Monte, which I’d planned on skipping and which turned out to be home to the most beautiful graveyard I’d ever seen. (A fifth of the below pictures may be dedicated to it and I have no sorrow.) There were many graves that were entire rooms, like mini cottages home to altars and a headstone, and so many gorgeous statues and flowers. It was an enchanting memorial to anyone who’d passed and had the honour of being buried there.

The Giardino dell’Orticultura was a bit off the tourist track, but after I stole some WiFi from a cafe and learned that it didn’t charge an entrance fee, I decided to hightail it over, and I’m so glad I did. On the way, I encountered some marching band thing. The garden itself wasn’t as much of a garden as a market for various plants and flowers, and I wanted to buy them all for my mum.

Had I more time I would have explored the galleries, but with one day I felt that I saw a lot of gorgeous things and was very impressed with Florence.